UPDATE (05.31.10): I had predicted a strong first weekend for Sex and the City 2, regardless of the critical beatdown you see below, but it looks like I overestimated the broad appeal of these four broads. Box office estimates for the Memorial Day weekend place Sex and the City 2 as the 3rd biggest grosser, well behind Shrek Forever After (1st), and just a grain of sand away from Prince of Persia (2nd). The sequel, which had a staggering 90% female audience based on Warner’s exit polls, limped through the weekend with a $32.1 million take — that’s a 44% drop from the first film’s opening weekend. See you around, ladies.

ORIGINAL POST
It’s Memorial Day Weekend 2010, arguably one of the most anticipated movie weekends for women ever. And that’s because it marks the release of Sex and the City 2, a sequel we first reported on — and welcomed — back in November ’08. This one is destined to be a financial blockbuster, the rare “event movie” for women, a film that was even a focal point for organized parties at theaters on Thursday night. Only one problem: Looks like the movie sucks.

As of this writing, Rotten Tomatoes is hosting some 108 reviews (yeah, some are crap), and only 15 of those are positive. That’s a big ugly 14 rating. Things aren’t much better over at the more selective Metacritic, where 36 reviews yield a grand total of 5 happy ones. What’s more telling on Metacritic is the average user rating: 5.1 / 10. Is anyone going to like this 2 1/2-hour ladyfest?

Well, it’s certain that enough people will go see it this weekend. But expect a major drop to follow, especially if more moviegoers share negative comments, killing any curiosity moderate or non-fans of the TV show might have.

The combination of poor reviews and big box office presents a sadly similar setting as another female-focused film of 2010: The limp Valentine’s Day. It has its occasional fun moments, but it didn’t capture very many hearts in the critical world (including mine). Out of 163 RT reviews (again, too many), only 29 were positive. (That’s an 18 rating.) Yet, it earned over $110 million in the US, with its run just closing earlier in May. You can chalk up that success to the film’s appealing cast; Sex and the City 2 already has that going for it, plus the powerful draw of familiarity.